Discusses the history and diversity of early interpretation and the influence of Jewish traditions

The Bible was the lifeblood of virtually every aspect of the life of the early churches. This Handbook explores a wide array of themes related to the reception, canonization, interpretation, uses, and legacies of the Bible in early Christianity.

Presents eighteen commissioned articles on biblical exegesis in early Judaism, covering the period after the Hebrew Bible was written and before the beginning of rabbinic Judaism. -- from publisher description

In this Festschrift, James Kugel's creative scholarship in biblical interpretation provides the inspiration for a wide-ranging collection of essays that treat the history of Jewish and Christian scriptural interpretation from antiquity to the present

This volume explores the use and interpretation of the Bible in the Dead Sea Scrolls and associated apocryphal, early Christian and rabbinic literature. Interpretive interests, techniques and traditions are examined in many types of ancient works: rewritten bibles, pseudepigrapha, legal codes, prayers, sapiential texts, admonitions and historical treatises. The authors highlight the contribution of the new finds from the Judean Desert to such major issues as attitudes to the Bible and the Law in antiquity, continuity and innovation vis a vis the biblical world, common and unique dimensions of interpretation among different groups in the Second Temple and Rabbinic periods in particular, the Qumran sectarians and their opponents, New Testament authors and rabbinic Sages.

This volume assembles several important studies that examine the role of language in meaning and interpretation. The various contributions investigate interpretation in the versions, in intertestamental traditions, in the New Testament, and in the rabbis and the targumim. The authors, who include well-known veterans as well as younger scholars, explore the differing ways in which the language of Scripture stimulates the understanding of the sacred text in late antiquity and gives rise to important theological themes. This book is a significant resource for any scholar interested in the interpretation of Scripture in and just after the biblical period.

Biblical interpretation is not simply study of the Bible's meaning. This volume focuses on signal moments in the histories of scriptural interpretation of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from the ancient period to the early modern, and shows how deeply intertwined these religions have always been.

Culled from The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism, a monumental, groundbreaking reference work published in late 2010, Early Judaism: A Comprehensive Overview contains fifteen first-rate essays from a diverse group of internationally renowned scholars. This volume provides the most comprehensive and authoritative overview available of Judaism in the Hellenistic and early Roman periods. Contributors: John M. G. Barclay Miriam Pucci Ben Zeev Katell Berthelot John J. Collins Erich S. Gruen Daniel C. Harlow James L. Kugel Adam Kolman Marshak Steve Mason James S. McLaren Maren R. Niehoff David T. Runia Lawrence H. Schiffman Chris Seeman Gregory E. Sterling Loren T. Stuckenbruck Eibert Tigchelaar Eugene Ulrich Annewies van den Hoek James C. VanderKam Jürgen K. Zangenberg

"Alexander Negrov surveys the history of biblical interpretation within the history of the Russian Orthodox church from the Kiev period (tenth to thirteenth centuries) until the Synodal period (1721-1917). He presents a coherent analysis of the essential elements of Orthodox biblical hermeneutics as it developed over a period of several centuries critical to the defining of the Orthodox church."--BOOK JACKET.

This book is open access and available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by Knowledge Unlatched. Jewish and early Christian authors discussed Abraham in numerous and diverse ways, adapting his Old Testament narratives and using Abrahamic imagery in their works. However, while some areas of study in Abrahamic texts have received much scholarly attention, other areas remain nearly untouched. Beginning with a perspective on how Abraham was used within Jewish literature, this collection of essays follows the impact of Abraham across biblical texts–including Pseudigraphic and Apocryphal texts – into early Greek, Latin and Gnostic literature. These essays build upon existing Abraham scholarship, by discussing Abraham in less explored areas such as rewritten scripture, Philo of Alexandria, Josephus, the Apostolic Fathers and contemporary Greek and Latin authors. Through the presentation of a more thorough outline of the impact of the figure and stories of Abraham, the contributors to this volume create a concise and complete idea of how his narrative was employed throughout the centuries, and how ancient authors adopted and adapted received traditions.